RON JOHNSON/JOURNAL STARA hot air balloon floats over farm fields on Sept. 24 south of Washington as the sun slips behind clouds on the horizon.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARPenny Wu laughs as she empties the bucket of a 316E hydraulic excavator during media day Sept. 19 at the Caterpillar, Inc. Edwards demonstration facility. Caterpillar operator demonstrators offered members of the media an opportunity to operate heavy equipment.

FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STARPeoria Notre Dame players prepare for battle Sept. 19 as they take on Peoria High School in one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the season.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARMark Morrow of Mapleton throws out a casting net Sept. 15 on the waters along Mendenhall Road in the hopes of catching shad to use as catfish bait.

FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STARTrent Wilkins brings in an outside kick as the journey to become a stronger fighter continues Sept. 9 at the Peoria Muay Thai studio at 4408 N. Knoxville. Husband and wife team Alexandra and Josh Brackett help train fighters in the combat sport of Thailand.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARTwo mock terrorists on the upper deck of a moving tow boat engage a tactical team on the moving barge on Sept. 22 on the Illinois River in downtown Peoria for a multi-governmental agency drill with a terrorist scenario.

FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STARBrooke Bankes twirls her flag with the East Peoria color guard as marching bands from across the region show off their showmanship and musical fortitude Sept. 6 in the Marching Panther Invitational at Washington high School.

FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STARLight reflects off the metallic shoulder decorations of Farmington drum major Lucas Ward who leads his band as marching bands from across the region show off their showmanship and musical fortitude Sept. 6 in the Marching Panther Invitational at Washington high School.

AUSTIN HUMPHREYS/JOURNAL STARRescue personnel retrieve a man who drove his truck into the Illinois River on Sept. 18 near Galena Marina along Galena Road. The man swam hundreds of yards away from shore to avoid Peoria firefighters’ efforts to help him.

RON JOHNSON/JOURNAL STAREight-year old Claire Schussler, left, and sister Rachel Schussler, 9, both of Peoria, wear their traditional German Dirndl dresses and dance to the German music of the Ratskeller Brummers during the Sept. 19 opening night of the 19th annual Oktoberfest on the Peoria riverfront.

RON JOHNSON/JOURNAL STARThe leaves of a sugar maple turn fiery red as the Autumnal Equinox, commonly known as Fall, continues to turn the once- green leaves to hues of yellow and orange on Sept. 23 in Peoria.

AUSTIN HUMPHREYS/JOURNAL STARLarry Reames lays out bowls of food during feeding time for the 17 cats he cares for at his home. Reames is trying to find homes for all but two of the cats he and his wife rescued before she died Sept. 16 from cancer.

FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STARAn early touchdown was sweet for Chicago wide receiver Brandon Marshall (15) but it wasn’t enough as the Bears fell to Green Bay 38-17 on Sept. 28 at Soldier Field.

FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STARIllinois Gov. Pat Quinn brings his minimum wage challenge to Peoria, visiting the McDonald’s at 1017 W. Main on Sept. 3 to dine on a burger for $1.09 and a cup of free ice water as he tries to spend no more than $79 this week to bring attention to his call for a higher minimum wage. The minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25 an hour with $79 being the amount he says someone living on minimum wage has left over after expenses such as taxes and housing. Voters will have a chance to decide themselves with a November referendum to increase the state’s minimum wage up to $10 per hour.

RON JOHNSON/JOURNAL STARFor some the wait, to see loved ones return from the Greater Peoria Honor Flight on Sept. 23 was a chance to catch a nap at the Gen. Wayne A. Downing Greater Peoria International Airport.

RON JOHNSON/JOURNAL STARWWII veteran Don Elliot of Farmington gets a hand during the return of the Greater Peoria Honor Flight on Sept. 23 from a visit to Washington, D.C and the nation’s war monuments.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARRichard Carrol and his dog Patches reaches for soybeans to check moisture content Sept. 29 at his farm near Brimfield. Carroll determined moisture in this field was too high for harvest and moved his efforts to help his brother on his farm near Elmwood.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARAll work stops briefly for the horticulture class at the Regional Learning Center at Wildlife Prairie Park when a large frog is uncovered while cleaning weeds Sept. 9 from a plant bed. From left are students Molly Delorne, 17, Kylee Strnad, 17, and Kathryn Kingsland, 18. At right is teacher Melissa Magill.

FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STAREl Paso-Gridley football team manager Nathan Schertz has always backed his team. During the preseason scrimmage in August, the team returned the favor, inserting him as running back, pushing him in his wheelchair to a touchdown.

FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STARPeoria firefighters work at the Archer Daniels Midland plant Sept. 22 after a blaze in a grain bin sent a torrent of smoke in the air visible for miles. Peoria firefighters and police were dispatched shortly after noon to the sprawling ethanol distillery on Edmund Street near the MacArthur Highway Bridge.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARJonathan Sample photographs damage to his stepfather’s van caused by a fallen tree Sept. 9 after a storm swept through Chillicothe. Sample said he was awakened shortly before 4 a.m. by the crash of the tree in the background on the roof of the house on Fifth Street. The storm toppled trees, downed power lines and forced schools to close.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARThe Peoria Notre Dame High School marching band makes their first appearance flanking the football team under cloudy skies Sept. 5 at Richwoods Stadium.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARMountain dulcimer player Jewel Moyers gives a few minutes of advice before 10-year-old Ayana Pacley begins playing on her own on the porch of the pioneer cabin at Sommer Park. Pacley was visiting from the Quad Cities with her mother and cousin and put Pioneer Days at the park on their list where volunteers demonstrated life of rural Peorians in the mid-19th century.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARBrothers Ron, left, and Chris Brockett, plasterers with Stohl Plastering in the Quad Cities, work in the City Halll council chambers on Sept. 3 in Peoria. At right, Chris Brockett unrolls a reinforcement mesh that will be then covered with plaster. The mesh stems the cracking of the old plaster beneath. City council meetings have been moved to the Peoria County board room in the Peoria County Courthouse for the first council meeting of each month. The second city council meeting of each month rotates to each of the council districts until the expected completion of the renovation at the end of 2014.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARTwins Benjamin, left, and Jacob Owen, 5, cover their ears as a Peoria fire department ladder truck passes with siren blaring on Sept. 1 during the Labor Day parade in downtown Peoria.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STARPeoria Area Mountain Dulcimer Club member Doug Spenny sets the tempo for the rest of the group to start their performance Sept. 15 at the Be Content Senior Expo at Par-A-Dice Hotel in East Peoria.

FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STARGravel flies through the air as Johnson Armstrong, left, and Randy Ericson, center, join other volunteers from Komatsu on Sept. 5 for the United Way Day of Caring. The crews cut back overgrown trees, painted fences and put down new gravel.

FRED ZWICKY/JOURNAL STAREast Peoria defenders Lucas Campbel (22) and Tyler Scharp (33) get tangled up trying to make an interception Sept. 6 against Chicago Collins in East Peoria.

DAVID ZALAZNIK/JOURNAL STAREd Swigris, 75, turns his boat from the small dock the Illinois Valley Oarsmen maintain to head into the fog shrouding the Illinois River on Sept. 18. Ed Shimon, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Lincoln, said the annual fall return of cool nights, warm days and light winds contribute to cold air, being heavier, settling into valleys laden with moisture.

Matt Dayhoff

Matt Dayhoff started as a photographer for the Journal Star in 1992 shortly after graduating from the Ohio University School of Visual Communications. In 2009, he moved into the newsroom as an online editor and producer and is now responsible for helping manage and edit much of the editorial content on pjstar.com.